Ballast Wheel weights or filled tires?

[bowhunter3030]

Should I go with wheel weights or filled tires on my B3030? Where is the best place to get the wheel weights if this the best choice?

 

[wushaw]

I like filled tires because the CG is lower to the ground and it was cheaper than weights.

 

[JerryG]

There are several different views on this subject. Personally I don't like fluid ballast. When you change tires, you have to have it pumped out, when you have a flat there is a very good chance that it will leak every where and if the leak is slow it can rust your wheels out before you know it. You can make your own wheel weights for a lot less than you can buy them from a dealer. That is what I did for the last two tractors. If there are like mine, you can take put them on and take them off very easily. Here is a link to my wheel weights. They have 4-50 pound weights on each side for a total of 200 pounds per side. http://www.tractorbynet.com/photos/showphoto.php/photo/65/sort/1/cat/500/page/1

 

[ozzie tractor]

an interesting demonstration was performed at a field day a few years ago now, one of the state science depts was banging on about fluid in tires affecting fuel consumption. so they got a pair of 400hp tractors and 40' cultivators, dyno'd them and set the hp the same then weighted one with fluid and the other with a full weight kit. both weight the same. then sent them to work for a few hours. the one with fluid in the wheels got flogged in fuel consumption as well as the amount of work it got done. i know you dont have 400 hp but it is still relevant.
fluid is cheaper though.

 

[N80]

What is the explanation for decreased work and poor fuel consumption from fluid filled tires?

P.S.: I'd probably prefer to use wheel weights but Kubota seems to be under the impression that they are made of gold and they charge accordingly. When you look at cost, there's no contest even if it does decrease fuel efficiency.

 

[BTDT]

Last time I was at metal scrapyard, they had a bunch of old manhole covers. For the price of scrap-iron, that would be pretty cheap wheel weights. Might check in your area.

 

[JerryG]

What is the explanation for decreased work and poor fuel consumption from fluid filled tires?

Fluid doesn't allow the tires to deform to the soil to achieve maximum traction.

 

[escavader]

HELLO,
I dont have the experience as others here,but i run filled in my little KUBOTA.Have had weights on small craftsman tractors.Cant see any difference except common sense tells me I got weight right at ground level.I wouldnt think rusty rims would be as big an issue ,now that most are not using calcium any more.Mine is a beet juice type fluid.Just had one of mine topped off last week ,bill says 3 dollars for a gallon.I have had flats without any leak,and ive had low air pressure where it weeped around the rim,yep it is messy,more reason to use an enviromental friendly fill
ALAN

 

[wushaw]

Fluid doesn't allow the tires to deform to the soil to achieve maximum traction.

Why wouldn't they? The tires are not filled completely so the tires can still conform to the ground.
Something is still missing to explain the results.

 

[GaryE]

There are times when I need as much weight as possible, then there are times (during mud season) I wish I could fill my tires with helium. Wheel weights are easy to remove.... Just my opinion.


Gary

 

[ozzie tractor]

one of the reasons they quoted for the fuel consumption was that when the wheel turned the fluid stayed basically where it was in relation to the ground except for the fluid in contact with the tire and rim, it got dragged around inside the wheel and it was this drag effect which caused the extra load on the tractor.

 

[soxfan]

Thanks for the advice, Some good points! Those are some sweet tire mods Jerry G. I like the flexibility of being able to take them off if needed, something I would not be able to do with filled tires. I am also not too concerned with the fuel efficiency of filled tires. It seems I can go for a couple of days on 10 gallons What overpriced weights does Kubota sell and how do they attach? Thanks again guys this forum is Awesome. I don't post much but I read everyone elses posts and have learned a bunch. Thanks again.

 

[JerryG]

Why wouldn't they? The tires are not filled completely so the tires can still conform to the ground.
Something is still missing to explain the results.

Either Michelin or Firestone one explains the whys about the fluid not letting the tire conform to the soil. You can go there if you wait to get into more detail. The jest of it is that the tire is more solid and that prevents the conforming.

 

[Harvster]

What is the explanation for decreased work and poor fuel consumption from fluid filled tires?

I would say part of the difference is due to location of the weight. With filled tires the tractor has to move weight that is centered further away from the axle center. This takes more energy than moving the same weight but distributed more closely to the center of the axle. Kinda like figure skaters spinning with their arms out vs arms tucked in. It's faster/easier to spin with the weight being more inline with the rotational axis.

 

[guyrj33]

If you ever have to drive over soft ground, don't fill your tires.
Use wheel weights or a 3 pt weight box. Then you will have a choice to weight or not to weight.

 

[KeithInSpace]

My engineering perspective: If you FILL the tire (I mean full...like 90% or 95% full) with fluid, the net effect on the tractor from a center-of-gravity perspective would be identical to having equivalent wheel weights...half the fluid weight would be below the axle and half above. Straight physics, here. Advantage: None

I calculate that you could get over 2 cubic feet of fluid in each tire of a 2230/2350. At 62 lbs/cf you could get over 130 lbs of ballast in each tire versus about 70 or 80 lbs per each wheel weight. Advantage: Filling

It makes sense that non-compressible fluid filling would mean the tire would not 'conform' to the ground as well. It is this same principal that gets you stuck if you drive on a sandy beach with 40 psi in your tires versus 15 psi. Trust me...been there, done that. Advantage: Weights

Just my $0.02, but I've seen quite a few reasons why filling tires can be a pain in the butt and haven't seen where wheel weights are a pain. And when it matters to me, I probably have a box blade on the 3PH anyway.

I guess you could have a better net effect (from a COG/Physics perspective) with filling your tires and still have some ground-conformance capabilities if you only fill the tire, say, 50% or 60% with fluid. Then you'd hear your tractor "slosh" arond the yard. Funny thought.

I have wheel weights and see no reason to ever fill my tires.

 

[Harry c]

Another Engineering Perspective:
If you fill the tire to the top of the rim as recommended ( approximately 75% fill ) and pressurize with air to the recommended pressure (25 psi for my tractor) there is absolutely no difference in conformability to the ground except in extreme cases like running over a curb. 25 psi is 25 psi. The remaining air is compressible and acts exactly like air always does. The only difference is the smaller volume of air in the tire and the pressure rise will be greater with a significant deflection of the tire like the curb mentioned above. The pressure will be the same when you run over the curb but the tire will not have deflected as much due the increased rate of pressure rise because of the smaller volume of air available to compress. Normal running around on the ground: the tire will exert exactly as much pressure per square inch on the ground as the inflation pressure. 25 psi in the tire; 25 psi on the ground. The tire deforms to pressure equilibrium.

 

[N80]

Another Engineering Perspective:
If you fill the tire to the top of the rim as recommended ( approximately 75% fill ) and pressurize with air to the recommended pressure (25 psi for my tractor) there is absolutely no difference in conformability to the ground except in extreme cases like running over a curb. 25 psi is 25 psi.

Yes, that's the way I look at that too....but I'm no engineer. Plus, just from observation, my filled tires certainly do conform to ground conditions, particularly hard things like rocks.

I can understand the theory that moving the water around within the rim my cause a little wasted energy. In a tractor plowing hundreds of acres a day one might see a difference. I doubt there is any measurable difference in a typical CUT doing typical CUT type tasks.

Again, all things being equal, I like the idea of wheel weights. For me, it all comes down to price. Manhole covers might be an option for smaller tractors but on my L4400 I get 400 pounds per tire with fluid. A man hole cover can't get anywhere near that.

 

[MX5000]

I went back and fourth on putting liquid ballast in the rear tires of my 2005 Kubota MX5000 because of reading about a possible stiffer ride. I priced wheel weights from Kubota and was quoted $600.00. I put $100.00 worth of ballast and the rest was water to the nozzle in the 12:00 position in the wheel. I've got about 300lbs per wheel. I'm happy with the ride and doesn't seem any stiffer when driving fast on rough dirt roads or trails. Now the tractor doesn't bouce back and fourth (front to back) driving on steep trails with a full loader bucket. If needed, I can add wheel weights or ballast box (use the Woods BH900 Backhoe for rear ballast).

Howard